Raw Strength

Welcome to another Ask Ant blog post where I answer any and all of your questions!   QUESTION: Hi, I’m a rower and I do a lot of pulling movements in the weights room. However I feel that my pull-up reps are limited by a weak grip. So what can I do to strengthen my grip for pull-ups? Charlie   ANSWER: Charlie, thanks for asking a question, lets take a closer look at your problem and what you can do to solve it. Pull-ups require a hell of a lot of strength but are one of THE best bodyweight exercises you can do, so stick at them, especially as you’re a rower with a need for a strong grip and pulling strength! The best way to improve your grip strength for pull-ups is to do more pull-ups! You need to improve your grip strength-endurance… There are two main ways to increase total strength endurance. 1) Increase your muscular coordination .  2) Increased growth of type IIa (fast oxidative glycolytic) muscle fibres.   Lets take a more in-depth look at these...

Welcome to answer time! You ask the questions and I’ll throw the answers straight back at ya! Here we go… QUESTION: Why do your legs tire faster when dragging the sled backwards as opposed to forwards? Tony   ANSWER: Thanks for the question Tony! If we take a look at how much muscle is located on the back of your legs, we find the hamstrings, glutes and calves. The combination of all of these muscles is a group commonly called the ‘posterior chain’, they are the strongest group of muscles in the body and you use them all when you drag the sled forwards. Now compare that to how much muscle is located on the front of your legs; we have the quadriceps and hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus, sartorius and rectus femoris for those who are interested!). When these muscles are combined the total strength is less than the ‘posterior chain’ AKA the strongest muscle group, and these weaker muscles are used when you drag the sled backwards. So it’s harder to drag the sled bac...

There is a LOT of misinformation out there in the fitness world, I know, I’ve listened to some crap advice and done my fair share of ridiculous programs! But here is the TRUTH. Answers from PROVEN research and personal experience to protect you from the lies. QUESTION: I want to add definition to myself without adding extra weight, how can I improve muscle definition without hypertrophy? Matt   ANSWER: Hi Matt, thanks for the question! To increase your muscle definition you have to lose fat whilst maintaining your current muscle mass, and hopefully strength, I’m assuming that losing weight due to fat loss won’t be a problem so here goes: There are 2 things we need to take into account to achieve this goal: 1) Your diet has to change to decrease caloric intake AND increase the quality of foods you eat 2) Your training must increase your metabolism to burn more fat AND still maintain your strength and muscle mass   Your diet is the most important aspect of changing b...

This is a showcase to demonstrate the great efforts and hard work of all the clients at Raw Strength. First up is Jacob, age 15, he plays rugby union for Warrington and Lancashire. In his first month of training Jacob had the following stats: 37 barbell press-ups (Hands on a bar raised off the floor) Unable to do any pull-ups 60kg box squat for 4 reps Unable to flip the big tyre   During 3 months of HARD training twice a week Jacob has achieved: 60 barbell press-ups 30 press-ups with his feet on a box (feet higher than hands) 6 pull-ups 67.5kg box squat for 12 reps 5 flips of the big tyre   Jacob has put on some visible muscle mass throughout training, is considerably fitter and much stronger and is about to start an intense off-season program for rugby to further increase his improvements! Check the following video, Jacob is the second guy… I’m really excited about what he can achieve over the next 3 months of training. So congratulations to Jacob for steppin...